Airline Price Guarantees: What's the Catch?

The Small Print on Airline Price Guarantees

Many airlines, the most famous ones being Ryanair and easyJet, offer 'price guarantees' and challenge you to beat their prices on another airline's website. If you can, they'll often pay you double the difference. An easy way to check is with a price comparison site: Compare Prices on Flights to Spain. If you can find a better price than the one you paid - congratulations, you might be entitled to compensation.

See also: Cheap Deals on Flights to Spain.

What's the Catch?

The main stipulation is that the price you are comparing can only include 'mandatory' fees and taxes. But the usual problem when dealing with budget airlines arises here - what counts as 'mandatory'?

Price Guarantees and 'Non-Essential' Fees

Neither Ryanair nor easyJet count baggage as mandatory (which I suppose is true if you're a business traveler, or maybe if you're visiting a nudist beach in Spain)! They also don't count credit and debit card fees as 'mandatory' either, even though it is often difficult to pay in any other way.

So, when comparing these 'price guarantees', check how much more you will probably have to pay in 'non-essential' fees. Some examples would be:

Note: these prices are from mid-2008 and so may be out of date

• Common Non-Essential Ryanair Fees: 5€ credit/debit card fee per person, each way; 10€ per bag, each way; 5€ to check in at the airport as opposed to online (mandatory if checking in a bag).
  Total 'non-essential' fees: 40€ per person for round trip or 160€ for a family of four.
• Common Non-Essential easyJet Fees 2.50€ debit card fee (7.50€ credit card fee, or 2.5% of the total transaction); 9€ baggage fee per person, each way.
  Total 'non-essential' fees: 20.50€ for a round trip or 74.50€ for a family of four.

This is excluding speedy boarding and insurance which you can take off before you pay.

So, when comparing these price guarantees, take into account the fact that Ryanair's 'non-essential' charges are a lot higher than easyJet's (an extra 85.50€ in fees to a family of four for the privilege of taking a bag each and paying for it with a card).

Other Clauses Worth Bearing In Mind

Both easyJet and Ryanair have strict requirements on when you see the better price (usually within one or two hours of making your booking) and on when you make your claim (usually within 24 hours). They also state that they will check the price themselves (usually within a further 24 hours). This means it could be up to 48 hours before the better price you saw is confirmed by the airline. With so many very limited-time offers on the internet (e.g. Book before midnight today for a free flight) you may find that the price you saw is no longer available. Make your own checks 24 hours after you make your claim to make sure the offer you saw is still available.

Another obstacle is Ryanair's "direct city pair comparison".Ryanair requires that the airports must be in the same city "as defined by IATA (International Air Transport Association)."

As an example, Ryanair give "the five IATA designated London Airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City) and the designated airports in Glasgow which are Glasgow International and Glasgow Prestwick." They will not accept flights "to/from city airports that are not IATA designated e.g. Girona and Barcelona's El Prat Airport."

So, even if Ryanair themselves call say an airport is in a particular city (such as calling Girona a 'Barcelona' airport, this doesn't count when claiming in this price guarantee.